What are the Top Functions of the Best Hotel Channel Manager Software?
When you are evaluating various channel managers, and looking for the best hotel channel manager software, it is essential for you to take your needs in consideration. You have to carefully look at the different feature sets that can be availed with the channel manager that you are planning to buy. A channel manager has to be created keeping the future in consideration, with various feature sets that can improve the outreach, planning, reputation and revenues of hotels. Generally, an online hotel channel manager is a wonderful technological tool that can give hoteliers a single dashboard from which reservations or hotel revenue management is possible. It has a number of important functions.
Updating inventories and rates
It can be useful for updating the inventories as well as rates for the categories of rooms of a hotel for every date in future, onto every online travel portal. This can make sure there is parity all along. When there is any cancellation of booking or any fresh reservation on any web-based portal, information is sent to the user.
Pushing various inventories
The new inventory is also updated simultaneously to every online travel portal that is connected. It lets users push a wide range of inventories to various online channels, or offer the chance to completely switch a channel off for a specific time period. When you are in search of the best channel manager for hotels, it is crucial to check whether the one that you are buying can push a wide range of hotel inventories.
Setting rate restrictions
It can also let hotels set various rate restrictions, such as Closed for Departure (CTD), Closed for Arrival (CTA), Blackout dates and Minimum length of stay (MLOS). This makes sure that it can regulate the pattern of revenues during specific peak periods. Such types of restrictions, of course, may be implemented only for those channels that let hoteliers use APIs to set such rules.
Rate management
It can let hoteliers manage the rates for various kinds of meal plans, levels of occupancy as well as special rates such as additional child or adult rates across every online portal for every category of room from just one interface. Hotel owners can set varied rates for various categories for various dates. It helps them change such rates easily for every category of room, when needed. Hotels can conduct a live fetch of inventories and rates that are apparent on every OTA extranet exactly on real-time. Mismatches can be spotted and a re-syncing is carried out at anytime needed.
Synchronization
It can provide hotels with the chance to sync deals or packages running on an Online Travel Agency with the inventories of the specific room category. This ensures that the deals are only sold when there is availability of the room for which they are being offered for. In this way, a standard channel manager can synchronize all the web-based travel portals at all times. Users can have more control about the online presence of the hotel.
